Almost Too Late Dramione OneShot
by S. Summers
Summary: OneShot. Draco learns that he loves Hermione while hearing her screams while Bella tortures her. This goes completely with the storyline as much as i can make it its mainly what happened above the dungeon that Harry and Ron didnt hear. I dont own HP


**Okay, so this is set in The Deathly Hallows at the Malfoy Manor when the Snatchers caught Harry, Ron and Hermione. I don't have the book with me so I might leave out some stuff by mistake, so don't get all "oooooo!" okay! I do not own Harry Potter.**

**Draco POV **

_I hate this business; it's sick, and absolutely boring. I can't wait for this war to be over, I don't even care who-_

"Draco! Draco come now! We need your help!" I heard Aunt Bella shouting from the parlor. What could it be this time? Did she get her wand stuck in that rats nest of hers again? I sat on the edge of my bed remembering the last time; Aunt Bella had gone ballistic, but she sounded posiltively delighted now. I strode to the door and out into the parlor where four unsanitary and anxious teenagers were awkwardly standing. I recognized three of them; Ron Weasly, Dean Thomas, and Hermione Granger. The fourth had untidy black hair and green eyes; from afar he looked like Undesirable No.1: Harry Potter. But as I got closer, I saw that his face had unfortunately distorted and bulging. Aunt Bella grabbed him from his collar and set him on his knees, she pulled his hair back to show a crooked scar on his forehead, not a lightning bolt, it was much less glamorous.

"Well…is it him? Draco, is it him!" She spat with anxiety. I knelt down so I was face to face with him, just inches away. At first I looked at his facial features, I knew this was him, I could see the spell work, I even knew who cast the spell; it was obviously Granger, I had had almost every class with her since the first year. This was why my mum, dad, and aunt Bella couldn't see it, they had no clue what Grangers spell work was like, or Wealsys, let alone Deans, that's why they asked me.

"His face is ghastly!" I murmured. I looked into Harry's eyes, I could see him begging me subconsciously, I could see him pleading me, I looked up at Bella. "I really can't be sure. I mean, look at him!" I gestured to his grotesque face. "Even if this was a spell, and this was Potter, the only people he has to cast one is Thomas, Weasly and Mudblood Granger, and neither of them has the wand skills to do that kind of work. I say we just toss them out." But Bella wasn't paying any attention to me, she was staring intently on one of the Snatchers swords.

"_Where_ did _you_ get _that_?" She jabbed her wand at it angrily. He looked down at it.

"Oh, this old thing?" he said in a stupid sounding voice, "That girl there had it in her bag. I found it, so I reckon its mine now." He smiled dumbly.

"Avada kedavra!" Bella shouted. The next thing I knew, the Snatchers were frantic, the man was dead, and Bella had the sword in her hand. She strode angrily to Hermione, "Throw the boys in the dungeon, and everybody out! I think missy and I need to have a little talk, girl to GIRL!" She spat in Hermione's face. "Then you can have her, Greyback." I saw Fenrir Greyback, the most vicious of all werewolves, who was never fully human, and killed children out of the corner of my eye lick his lips. Was Bella serious? Was she just going to let him eat her, bushy hair and all? I felt sick to my stomach, I had never liked Hermione much, but I had never wanted her dead. Things were going from bad to worse, I just wished Bella would get them out of here, away from here, and forget about them, I didn't need anybody to get hurt, let alone killed. Not here, not now at least.

…

"Draco, are you sure it wasn't him?" My mother asked me. We were all sitting in the dining room; my father was standing in the dark corner with his face in his hand, as if he were in deep thought. My father hadn't been himself lately, his wand had just been shattered in a duel between the Dark Lord and Harry, and he was no longer the Dark Lords right hand man. He was always separate from everyone else. My mother on the other hand was quite the opposite. She was so anxious to find Harry, but I knew she didn't care about any of this; she just wanted to be free from this terrible, dirty business. I kept thinking about what Dumbledore had said to me the night he had been killed, about hiding my family and me from Voldemort. I only wish he were here now, I wish he would just get us out of here, not my father of course, I hated my father, I had always praised him before, until he used the Cruciatus Curse on mum when I had failed to kill Dumbledore and he blamed her. Mum wasn't the same after that, only I knew that, of course.

"Positive." I said in a very monotone voice. I heard mother shift in her seat. All I could think about was what was happening in the parlor, what was Bella so miffed about, a stupid sword? What business did Bella have with a sword, and why did Hermione have it? I heard the most terrible scream come from the parlor, I had only heard a scream like that once before. Bella had crucioed Hermione, when my father crucioed mum, I felt sick, but right now, I couldn't bear it. I could bear to hear her screams of pain and suffering, but why? It was just Mudblood Granger, just some frizzy haired know-it-all, why did her screams make me twitch? All of a sudden, images of her throughout the years swam through my head; the first time I saw her, when she opened my compartment door asking if I had seen Neville's frog, now that I thought of it, I didn't know she was muggle-born then, I might have even thought her to be nice. I imaged her running through the Great Hall in our second year after being petrified, hugging Harry and Ron, I remembered my subconscious relief. I felt her cold hand slap me in our third year, and how I secretly wanted to run after her and apologize for what I said.

I endured the surge of awe and envy when I saw her dancing with Krum at the Yule Ball in her periwinkle dress, smiling, laughing, blushing, and how I wished for a dance with her. I reminisced waiting down a hallway for the D.A. to come but only hearing the fast paced step of Hermione as she read her favorite textbook _Hogwarts, A History, _watching her stop, as though she heard my breathing, which had just gotten faster, then continued walking faster. The last thing I remembered was sitting in the corner of the hallway to Slughorns office in the shadows, watching Hermione and Cormac Mclaggen, walking awkwardly to the Christmas dinner party, wanting to tackle him to the ground and walk in with her on my arm. Then her screams of pain broke my mermories, filled my head, made me feel dizzy, I clenched my fists, and shut my eyes, as though this would stop my crazy thoughts.

"Draco, dear, what wrong?" I felt my mother's hand on my shoulder; I unclenched my fists and opened my eyes. I brushed off her hand and stood up, making the chair fall. I strode to the parlor; my father stopped sulking and stood in front of me.

"Draco, don't be stupid. What do you think you're doing?" His face was cold, almost corpse like.

"Bellatrix is wasting her time, Herm-that mudblood isn't going to tell her anything, she has too much pride and faith in that Potter." I pushed past him towards Hermione's crys. My father grabbed my wrist.

"If we don't get anything out of her, the Dark Lord might as well lock us in our own dungeon." His hold tightened, I pulled away from his grip and ran to the parlor, preparing for the sickening sight I was about to witness. I pushed open the door to see Hermione sprawled on the ground, crying. Bella was on top of her, inches from her face, with her wand to her chin.

"Now tell me, what else did you take from Gringotts?" Neither of them had noticed me yet. Hermione's face was wet with tears.

"I didn't take _anything_!" She said under her crys. Bella smiled creepily.

"Then where did you get my sword?" She spat.

"We-we found it!" Bella crucioed her, I felt so sick, I almost shut my eyes.

"Stop!" I shouted angrily at her. Bella looked up at me and smiled; she stood up and strut towards me, and circled around me.

"Draco, have a little…_crush?_" She asked teasingly. Hermione looked up weakly, she was nearly unconscious, her face was as pale as a ghosts, I looked her in the eyes and apologized for all the years silently. "Or would you like to help?" Bellatrix pulled my wand out of my pocket and held it in front of me, smiling. I grabbed it and pointed it at her.

"She's no use to you, if you want to know about Gringotts, ask the goblin. She hasn't been in your vault. If anyone has, the goblin will know." Bella smiled and rushed off toward the dining room. I immediately ran to Hermione and held her. I rocked her in my arms, "You'll never remember any of this, but I want you to know, I will always protect you."


End file.
